TEHRAN—An exhibition themed “unfinished narrative; inheritance, forgery and smuggling” with a focus on displaying confiscated smuggled items was launched at the Reza Abbasi Museum in Tehran on Monday.

According to ISNA, over 120 objects pertaining to eras from the second millennium BC to the middle centuries of the Islamic era have been put on display. A portion of them were fake, created for the purpose of profiteering and deception. 

The exhibition aims to increase public awareness about the methods and tricks of cultural heritage forgers and smugglers.

The relics were identified and confiscated by the Tehran Cultural Heritage Protection Unit and in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, in recent years.

The statue of a seated woman, which made headlines last year when it was discovered and seized by police, is among the works on display in the collection. Cultural heritage experts had confirmed that the statue was a fake. 

The items like bronze rhytons are seen in the collection, which have been imitated and simulated from historical eras.

In addition, the report on the operations of the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit and the laws related to the excavation, smuggling, purchase, sale, and export of historical objects, and the punishment for the destruction of historical property have also been put on information boards.

The exhibition will run for a week. 

KD